We all need a good desk lamp, but open desk space is increasingly hard to find… especially if your desk is as messy as mine. In 2018, I reviewed the BenQ ScreenBar, a lamp that rests on top of my monitor and lights my desk from there, and I’ve been using it ever since… it’s an excellent idea. But in 2020 when I set up a second office, I needed another lamp, and by that point, there were more options… several of which were less expensive than the BenQ. My second lamp of this type was a Quntis, and it’s been great, too.
And last week, my third and most-feature rich lamp of this type arrived in the mail, also made by Quntis1Quntis sent me this lamp to review, at no cost to me, but this review is not sponsored, I’m not a Quntis affiliate, and Quntis has no input on this review. As always, I’ve made this review as objective as possible. This lamp is the Quntis Screen Linear RGB Pro+, with a puck-style desktop remote control… and at about $50, it costs about half as much as the BenQ.
The question is, of course, whether we’ll lose out on quality by opting for the Quntis. Below, I’ll take a look at the basics and the details of the Quntis Screen Linear light, comparing it with my others, and reaching a conclusion about its quality, especially for those of us who are editing photos or video.
Size, Shape & Design
This 20-inch wide lamp has the longest light-bar of the three that I own, and more unexpectedly, it has a pair of secondary, rear-facing RGB light bars that cast light on the wall behind the monitor. The lamp is powered via USB (type A).
The main lamp and rear lights are both controlled by means of a separate controller “puck” that rests on the desktop. This allows the user to power on the light, but control the brightness and warmth of the main light by pressing (+) and (-) buttons. The rear-facing RGB lights can be powered off independently with a long-press on a smaller power button icon, while short-presses cycle through the RGB color options (including solid colors, split colors, and changing colors or white light).
Build quality is good and solid but not an all metal build, and monitor attachment options are flexible for those who have curved monitors. I like the solid feel and heft of the puck, which doesn’t slide around on my desk. The puck connects to the lamp via a 2.4GHz signal, and requires two AA batteries.
In Use
In just a couple of weeks using this light, I’ve been very happy with it. The wide light covers my desk with even light that is bright enough for reading and writing, and the adjustable color temperature covers a useful range. Ideally, for a professional photographer or video editor, Quntis would give us the option of selecting pre-set color temperatures to match the gamma of our monitors (6500K, for example), but I have not met a light yet that offers this feature. Furthermore, the high CRI (95+, they claim) of the main lights makes it easy to use the light on a physical reference object or photo when color-grading or color-correcting.
The rear-facing lights don’t get much use in RGB mode during work hours, but they can be fun to play with, and using them in white-mode can add enough ambient light to help reduce eye-strain.
Ultimately, I prefer using the puck for adjusting the lights than the bar-top touch controls of my other lights of this type, which can be hard to see and find in a dark environment.
Drawbacks
For professional, color-critical photo and video editing, controlling the color of ambient light is very important, as strong nearby colors can influence an editor’s color perception. As such, the rear-facing RGB lights of the Pro+ would generally not be suitable for pro work. Luckily, it’s a simple matter to turn them off. I sometimes think that it would be useful to turn that back light RED when I’m working at home and don’t want to be disturbed, but I haven’t actually tried it. So, the only real drawback here is that when you power on the lamp, the RGB lights are automatically turned on, and take an extra button push to turn off.
I was a little surprised to discover that the Pro+ lamp was missing a feature that my older Quntis lamp has: auto-brightness via a lamp-top photo sensor. If you work in an environment with variable light levels, I can see how this might be useful… though it is something that I have never needed myself. Like color, controlling ambient light levels is important for photo editing, so I like to keep manual control over my lamps as well…. so this is no loss for me, but it might be important to others.
Conclusion
Considering that it’s just a lamp, the Quntis RGB Pro+ is flexible, functional, and fashionable. I don’t consider the RGB lights to be a “pro” feature, but they’re an enjoyable addition for the off-work hours. The controller puck is very handy and much easier to use than fiddly touch-buttons on my other lamps, and the quality of light from the lamp is excellent. I don’t get any screen glare from many of my lamps of this type, though they do tend to highlight any dust on the screen. You’ll want to keep a cleaning cloth handy.
All in all, an excellent product at a reasonable price, considering the alternatives. If you want auto-dimming and no RGB, consider the Quntis Glow Pro model instead.
The Quntis monitor light bars can be purchased via Amazon or directly from the Quntis website, sometimes at a lower price.
